"You know I-, I have to say, I'm your biggest fan."
"Heh. I never woulda guessed. You still got that autograph?"
"Of course, I keep it on my fridge. I mean- you remember me?!"
The disembodied head of Frank Sinatra gave his usual winning smile. "Hard to forget anything about that night, pal."
"Oooh!" Monogram cheered, dancing slightly in place. "Yes, indeedy! You certainly did it Your Wa- oh wait, you never liked that one. Uh. You sure did Fly to the Moon- no- That Sure Was Life- no, uh… what was it a fella once said…"
"Monogram," You grouse. "Will you stop fawning over our lounge singer friend? If you've got to be here, make yourself useful and hand me that allen wrench."
"Hmph." Monogram grumbled, handing you the tool in question with a huff. "Don't mind him, Franky. I'm sure he doesn't appreciate your genius."
"What I don't appreciate is you acting like a teenage girl at a 4*Town concert. You're bothering the poor mandroid."
"Aw, it's no trouble at all Heinz. Guy like me lives for the fans."
"Well it's a good thing we have some spare hydraulic bearings lying around then."
"You know Heinz, it's amazing how familiar you are with Gadget tech. I'd almost think you'd worked with it before."
You and Sinatron look at each other for a moment. You were just beginning to sweat when the robot head burst out laughing.
"Oh, I'm just yankin' your chain, Heinz. I knew you stole my specs the whole time. S'what I woulda done. Don' worry about it."
"Heh. Heh. Okay. Right. Well Mr. Sinatron, we're just about finished here. I need to make a few more calibrations to the firmware and double-check that Coyote didn't try to sneak the giant mallet back in, and then your body will be good to go!"
"Stupendous! I'm much obliged to ya doctor. Woulda taken weeks an' weeks ta get back on my feet without your support. This is gonna make everything else way smoother sailing."
"Hello?" came a voice from your lab doors, and a head peeks around the frame after a moment. Winston Deavor slipped into the room after only a moment's wait. "How are things coming? We have a very angry shareholder's meeting this afternoon I would absolutely love not to face alone."
"Relax Win, we're outta the woods. Why don't you kick back and chat with Heinz for a bit, given all he's doing for us?"
"Oh, yeah!" You say, very slightly reducing your habitual hunch. "Winston! I don't think we've talked since the gala! The uh, the last one. I was… busy. Last month."
"You'd be right. And I still need to thank you."
"For the ah, the gala thing?" you ask. "Listen, that was mostly Mir-ah-Elizabeth's idea, if I'm being fully honest, so-"
"Not just that." Winston replies. "Do you remember what you said to me at that gala, Doctor?"
"Uhhh…" you think back. "Something about sticking it to Syndrome?"
"Yes! Exactly!" Winston nodded his head enthusiastically. "I'll admit, I've been… better than I am now. But I've never been worse than I was on that night. You helped wake me up. Reminded me there were others out there who cared about Supers. And you proved me right! Even if it was 'all Elizabeth', the fact that you put her in charge says volumes. I don't think anyone's done for Supers what she did."
"Uhhhhh…"
You and Sinatron look at each other uncomfortably for a moment.
"So anyway!" You force. "How're things with you?"
This comment somehow does not defuse the awkwardness.
"Well. My sister went insane, mind controlled half of our company, tried to sabotage everything I worked for, and tried to kill a large portion of corporate America."
"Right." You reply. "I uh… yeah. That's rough, buddy."
Another moment of silence stretches between you before something finally occurs. "You know… I think I sort of understand what you're going through now. Not the whole… sister thing, but the 'company reputation thrown into unmanageable chaos'... bit. After the whole Flubber debacle… deugh. I'm still having nightmares." You say before elaborating after a moment. "Fried velociraptor."
"Ah, yes." Winston says sympathetically. "I heard about that. What… happened, exactly?"
"Overzealous science." You reply tersely. "The lawyers that I apparently have advise me not to go into greater detail. I was keeping the specs in a drawer for a rainy day. Literally, apparently the stuff can control the weather. Would have made for a good evil scheme."
"Doctor I… don't you think that's a little… dangerous of a thing to keep around just for a potential publicity stunt?"
"What?" You ask. "Okay, this is like the third time you've mentioned. What do you mean 'publicity stunt'?"
"The… evil plans?" Winston looks at you oddly.
"Oh, those aren't publicity stunts." You reply. "Winston, I'm an evil scientist."
"What?!"
"Yeah! You know, like Shego running her little chunk over in Middleton. I won, got to take over the Tri-State Area… sort of. It… it's complicated."
"It's really not that complicated." Monogram interjected.
"Quiet you." You reply.
"You're… an actual supervillain!!!" Winston said, voice rapidly growing excited. "Oooh, did you have a nemesis? Did they have incredible powers? Sleuthing wits?"
"Oh yes, he was the most powerful platypus you'd ever seen!"
You get the sense that some sort of nonexistent music track has cut out.
"Platypus?"
"Uh, yeah. Platypus secret agent. You know. Do they not have those in Metroville?"
"Like a platypus… man?"
"No, just a regular platypus. Well. I say regular. He was a semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of action! You should have seen him escape my brilliant traps while I monologued."
Winston nodded sagely. "How'd you beat him?"
Your mood immediately falls. "I uh… I'd rather not talk about that, if I'm honest."
Winston, for his part, seems to sense some sort of mistake. "Well. Um. Would you like to… tell me something about him?"
You think for a moment.
"Yeah." You say. "Yeah, I think I would."
===
You spend more time than you probably should nattering on to the man about those bygone days, evil schemes and death-defying battles. Winston, to your surprise, seems genuinely interested in every word, even as he seems to have trouble believing some of them. Eventually, your well runs dry, and you lapse into a much more comfortable silence than the last few.
"You know." Winston says. "You don't seem very evil."
"Excuse me?!?!" You shriek in sudden fury, leaping to your feet.
"Like, since you've taken over, you don't really seem to have hurt anyone. Or gone on any rampages-"
"Of course not!" You declare. "I own the Tri-State Area now, I can't just go messing it up. That's my stuff!"
"Uh… huh." Winston replies.
"There's more to being evil than hurting people." You say officiously. "Like being unreasonably petty about personal slights, or obsessing over your traumatic past, or creating mind-boggling inventions for little to no coherent reason. It's about standing up and saying 'hey world! Look out for me!'"
You frown.
"Anyway! I'll thank you not to insult my villain cred."
"Fair enough." Winston says with a smile, just as a loud ding rings across the room.
"That's my cue!" The newly-complete Sinatron declares, standing up from the workbench and performing a quick tapdance diagnostic. "Winston, you can just sit back and relax from here on out. Ol' Frankie'll take care of everything."
"Aha! You sure do Have the World on a String!" Monogram declares, making you jump. You forgot he was there. "There we go! Nailed it."
"Ah, thanks, Frank." Winston says, after a moment. "You know, I had a few ideas we could run past the board if we wanted to-"
"And I bet they're amazing, Win! I'll take a look at the whole kaboodle once we have this little mess with the board behind us."
Winston frowns. "I was really hoping to get the board's input-"
"Winston, baby." Sinatron says, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. "You know the Deavor name's got problems right now. If we want you to stick in place at the top of the heap, we need to be subtle about this, capice? You gotta let me do the sweet-talkin' and not ask any more of 'em for the time being. It'll keep things stable."
You frown again. It's not an angry frown, this time, but the sort of frown you get when you're struggling with an alien concept. The greater specifics of the moment escape you, but one some level, you can't help but notice that Winston seems a little… pushed aside. You have a lot of experience in that department. He really doesn't strike you as the supervillain type, but… maybe you could give him some encouragement? It might also help with that whole 'lingering guilt over his supervillain sibling' thing!
===
Monogram appreciates getting to spend time with his favorite celebrity!
Sinatron has been repaired! External factions attempting to take over Olympia have been stymied! Alliance maintained!
Anti-Super Old Guard faction under Cyrus Bortell fails to metastasize!
Remaining power struggle will be between: Sinatron and Winston.
Crit Effects: A lucky chance to tip the scales…
[ ] Bet on the Horse That's Winning
Winston's not a supervillain, and besides you were never really a pep-talk person. Sinatron's probably right.
Outcome: Sinatron is poised to take a leading role. Sinatron is likely to become Olympia's Kingpin in all but name. The man knows what he's doing.
[ ] You Just Have to Learn to be More Assertive
See if you can get Winston to stand up for himself! Ideally through evil means, but you'll take what you can get. You kinda like the guy. Nobody ever listens to your backstories anymore, especially not the pleasant ones. The sad ones have a sort of… bile fascination to them.
Outcome: Winston has a better chance of holding his own, even if he might not be able to do it all by himself. Olympia is more agreeable with Winston around, but he doesn't quite have the chops for skullduggery.
There is a twelve hour moratorium on voting.